Any statistics on deployed troops educational levels...?

[hexola]

I know Kerry was going after Bush - but was he - inadvertently - right about the troops being mostly uneducated?

Do you have to have a high school education to enlist?

[MercutioATC]

1. One USED to have to have a high school diploma or GED.

Once they started missing enlistment goals, the minimum requirements went out the window.

[bryant69]

2. There's clearly an element of truth to that statement

Military service is usually performed by those who haven't got much to start with. The wealthy or the upper middle class don't go in for it as regularly.

Reminds me of a bit from Farenheit 9/11 --> "I've always been amazed that the very people forced to live in the worst parts of town, go to the worst schools, and who have it the hardest are always the first to step up, to defend us. They serve so that we don't have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is remarkably their gift to us. And all they ask for in return is that we never send them into harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary."

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Syncronaut Seven]

3. My grandmother gave me the same advice back in 1976

Seemed sound then.

[lyonn]

4. Personally know kids that joined for the educational

opportunities the military provides. Most these kids are from middle to maybe lower middle class (depends on what defines middle class) as they don't qualify for FAFSA money as their parents make a bit too much to qualify. Others are from the group that qualify but haven't scored well enough for State money. Bush has screwed the middle class big time on educating our young. Boys in particular don't appear as enthusiastic as the girls to make high scores on their ACT test and school in general, not stupid, just lack enthusiasm.

One of these middle class kids, a marine, is waiting in the desert of Calif. to leave for Iraq in about a month, couple of others are leaving in a week to return, they are not happy, per grandson's conversation with these guys. Gawd this horrible mess bush has caused hurts all over, these are ordinary kids, but severely mislead by the hype about the war. Remember, we would be leaving Iraq just as soon as it got stabalized. Ugh? Such lies people believe.

I suggested to g-son to tell these guys about Canada and how pretty it is up there in the winter, well, my suggestion went over poorly, guess the old "honor" system is still strong in America. These troops are taught the buddy system and failing them would be too dishonorable. That is something to be proud of but, why is our leadership in Wash. so lacking in those virtures?

[youthere]

5. I worked on a 90-day recruiter's assistance program.

At that time, anyone who wanted to enlist was supposed to have a GED or high school diploma, but the recruiter could always apply a "waiver" if the potential recruit didn't have it-but it didn't happen often. The recruiters were more likely to hook the kid up with a GED assistance program. A potential enlistee also wasn't eligble if they had a criminal background, but again, depending on the circumstances a waiver could be applied. They wouldn't waiver a convicted rapist or killer, but if you had speeding tickets or anything that was considered fairly "mild" they would waive you. A waiver was always the judgement call of the individual recruiter, and most recruiters I knew applied them sparingly and with great discretion.
EVERY potential recruit was required to take and PASS the ASVAB exam(Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery). It's kind of a test of basic skills, and most recruiters don't bend on that...and even though a recruit could take the ASVAB as many times as they need to pass, there were stories of some recruiters that would "prep" their potential recruit by supplying them with copies of the tests beforehand.
Most of the potential recruits I dealt with were kids ready to graduate high school that either had no idea what they wanted to "do with their life" and saw the service as an opportunity to do something productive until they decided, and would earn a little college money along the way (like myself)OR they were kids who had no plans to go to college and didn't have any good job opportunities waiting for them. Wanting to serve one's country wasn't usually the primary reason but every recruit I met had a strong sense of duty to country. I never met a potential recruit that had higher than a high school diploma-but again, I was only there 90 days. Uneducated? Perhaps, but definitely not stupid.
I don't know how things are done now in recruiting offices, but that's how it was back then. The recruiters I worked with weren't evil or sneaky, and they were disgusted by the stories of recruiters that used underhanded tactics. They were good men and women that wanted quality people serving and I had a lot of respect for both the recruiters and the recruits.

[Sammy Pepys]

6. Eh....

While my instinct is that the military probably has a wide variety of educational levels represented (the small handful of folks I've known that are there or have gone have all had at least a four-year degree), this is probably one of the projects better left undone.